Wow,  I can’t believe the amount of outstanding talent you all have.  It seemed like a slow start as everyone figured out exactly what Shabby Chic was, but you got it!!!   Picking for this one was the hardest for me yet.  You all ROCK!!!  As you know, it all gets narrowed down to only three prize winners and some honorable mentions, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t get your card up on the blog this week, we always have more challenges for you.

So here we go, coming in with first place winning a $50.00 certificate and 2008 catalog  is Kiaraleestudio for her brilliant pastel Christmas card.  I love the colors, softness and design layout.  Nice, so sweet!

Next on my list for second place winning a $25.00 certificate and a 2008 catalog is Jaqueline with her divine Christmas card.  Love her combination of pattern papers and mix of colors is just stunning!

And finally our third place winner of $10.00 and a 2008 catalog is Judkajudi’s shabby valentines card.  These are some of my favorite old Hero stamps.  I love the way her lady is holding the charm.  Lovely!

Congratulations ladies, please drop us an email stating “Shabby First”, “Shabby Second” or “Shabby Third” in the subject line so we can get your mailing addresses and send a little goody to you.   Thanks!

And now for our Honorable Mentions.

Loved Jen Inks clean style on her antique Christmas, beautiful!

And Cvaladez67 for her colors and incorporation of the large holiday image, so pretty.

Here is rrlscrapgal (Andi)’s adorably Shabby Christmas card.  Each tree is so unique! Sweet!

Also, Dedernc3’s card with superb embossing!  Love the white trees and added holly berries!

And last but certainly not least is peacefulkatie’s cardwith great color mix.  The blue and gold tones compliment each other so well, wow!!!

Congratulations ladies, please send us an email with “Shabby HM”  in the subject line so we can get your mailing address .

Thanks again for joining my Shabby challenge, this was fun for me and you all did such an excellent job with your entries.  Remember, it’s about learning, sharing and the joy of creating that brings us all together.

See you next time!

Sorry about that…I had such trouble getting this edited.  Long story short, I had huge computer problems with that delightful blue screen.  I ended up downloading and installing two additional software programs,  I’m not exactly thrilled with the quality, But alas here it is!!!

Here’s a little recap of My holiday Shabby Chic week.  I started out with cards.

Moved on to an album…..

Created a bit of Home Decor….

And finished off with mini cards and tags.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to work with for you Holiday cards and crafts.  The flickr pool is filling up nicely with gorgeous entries. Remember, you have until 11:59 pm, PST on Sunday September,21 to get your entries in.   Thanks for joining me this week!

Until Next time, create and Enjoy!

:o)

Welcome back to my last day of this blog week.  I’ve had a blast except for my video troubles.  I’m still trying to get it published.  Just so you know, I’m determined to get it edited and will post it as soon as it is loaded in You Tube, promise!

So for my final projects, I thought I’d give you some ideas for tags, mini cards and another Scrap-ling that are quick and simple to create just in case you need to make several at a time for the holidays.

Supplies

• Holly Flourish
• Pocketful o” Holiday Trees
• Holiday Gift Tags
• World Christmas
• White Memories Ink
• Memories Black Ink
• Laurel leaf Ink
• VersaMark
• Clear Embossing Powder
• White Embossing Powder
• Pearls
• Felt Snowflakes
• Tinkering Ink papers, EK Scallop and Circle Punches, Ribbon, eyelet and sewing supplies

Wow that was a lot.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering who the three winners are for the Tinkering Ink goodies. First, I’ve got to thank Kezia and Paul for setting me up with such generous gifts to giveaway.  THANKS.

I had 409 comments and ran the numbers through Random.org to give me just three, so here goes!

The first is #84, Jean N. who said,  “One of my favorite Christmas projects involved paper mache cones (I bought a bunch of them off of ebay) and making ornaments using scrapbooking papers to fit each individual’s personality in my family. I filled the cone with candy and tiny gifts. I also made 10 for our church craft sale, and they were especially popular with the younger kids.”

Next is #90 Tere A. who left a comment saying, “I love cardmaking and since my son was born we made the tree ornaments every year. He is now 5 and this year we can try more than just painting wood shapes, maybe more scrapbooking related ornaments and some stamping!”

And finally, #397 Jeane who said, “I love making my own gift tags–and wowza!!! would this come in handy or what! THX for the chance to win!”

Congratulations ladies!  I’ll be emailing you to get your addresses.

Thanks everyone for hanging with me this week and for all your wonderful compliments.  I’ve truly enjoyed it. Oh and a quick note.  There are some Hero goodies being given away over at Tinkering Ink today.

Have a great week-end!

Well hopefully I’ll have a video for you later today.  Seems my computer is not liking what I’m instructing it to do.  In the meantime, I have plenty for show and tell to share.

I’m continuing the Shabby Chic creations with Tinkering Ink products.  I made this fun Holiday wall hanging from their Garland chipboard kit.  The possibilities are absolutely endless!

Today’s sample is all about texture.

Each oval section has been clear embossed using a Holiday Design Block.  I stamped the Holly Flourish on the J and Y and Stunning Snowflakes on the O.   The images are a subtle effect to invite a touch or second look.  Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paints are perfect for the Shabby Chic feel on the large chipboard letters.  Cuttlebug embossing folders finish up the look with the addition of a little lace, scallop border, buttons soft fabric ribbon and a touch of sewing.
Supplies

• Holly Flourish
• Stunning Snowflakes
• Versamark
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Felt Snowflakes
• Pearls
• Tinkering Ink Papers and garland, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Basic Grey Chipboard letters, Bazzill scallop edges paper, Crop-O-Dile, ribbon, buttons, string, lace and sewing machine.

I’ve got a very exciting GIVEAWAY!  Paul at Tinkering ink has set me up with three sets of the products shown in the photo below.  Yep, all of it…can you believe that?   I’ll announce three lucky winners on Friday.  Just leave me a comment by 11:59 PST, Thursday evening, September 18. Tell me about the projects you’ve enjoy to make for your winter holidays.

Hope you have a fantastic Wednesday,  Check back later for my video, I hope to resolve the “issues” as soon as I can.

Enjoy!

Welcome Back!

One thing I enjoy throughout the year is to photograph my surroundings.  I’m not much of a people picture taker, too many things to worry about I suppose…but I do love to get shots of “things”.  Our winters here in Illinois have given me much to look at.  Sometimes there are frosty white trees, snow covered everything but this past winter we had a very cool looking ice storm.  Bundled up, out the door I went with camera in tow to get close-ups of the amazing ice encased branches with dripping icicles.

My friends Kezia and Paul Whitteker over at Tinkering Ink supplied me with a TON of goodies to play with for my entire blog week.  The selection I am using is called Yuletide.  So Winter Holiday projects I will make.  To tie everything together, today’s entry is using a Tinkering Ink Peekaboo album that I’ve put together to pay homage to my attempts of capturing winters magic while keeping with my Shabby Chic theme.

Supplies:

• Bold Caps Alphabet
• Favorite Journal
• Stunning Snowflakes
• Holly Flourish
• White StazOn
• Chocolates and Blueberries Chalk Queue
• Neutral Buttons
• Felt Snowflakes
• Tinkering Ink paper, card stock, ribbon and string

Not sure where to begin on your challenge this week?  Here are some tips of the details to consider when designing in Shabby Chic style:

Vintage: In home decor Shabby Chic is soft floral, pastels, linen, tone on tone textures, white paint and distressed, unfinished or worn edges.  Card making can run much the same with distressed edges, fabrics, sewing, paint and scuffed papers.

Finery: Buttons, lace, ribbon, and trimming.  If you don’t happen to have these things handy a fun way to acquire some is to visit a second hand store and purchase old linens and such, find interesting pieces of clothing that might have unusual buttons or lace.

If you’re still not sure, we have a discussion going on over in the flickr pool.  Arlene did a wonderful job of researching Shabby Chic and wrote up some information here.   Thanks Arlene!

A quick note:  You can make ANY Holiday (Valentines, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) card or project for the Shabby challenge.  The Cards for Heroes should be Christmas related.   I hope you’re getting some great ideas, can’t wait to see what everyone creates!

Until tomorrow, Enjoy :o)

Welcome to another week on the Hero Blog.  I just couldn’t wait for my week to get here.  I’ve been so excited to share my style of Holiday cards with you.  I’ve got plenty of goodies to give away in the next few days, more stamping ideas for cards, keepsakes and even some home decor. And then on Thursday it will be time for me to announce my pick for “A day on the Hero Blog”.

All week I’ll be making Shabby Chic style Holiday cards and projects.  Shabby Chic is a “YUMMY” method of design that focuses on distressed edges, lace, buttons, sewing and more. I consider it to be a clean vintage cottage look with soft touches.  Here’s an example of my interpretation.

A week of blogging just wouldn’t be right without a challenge right?  So to start things off, I’d like you to create a Holiday card, project or scrapbook page that uses an element of Shabby Chic design.  Just load them into Hero Arts Flickr group with the tag “shabby”  Be sure to use at least one Hero Arts stamp on your card and post them by September 21st at 11:59pmPST.  From the entries we will pick winners for these prizes:

• 1st place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 2nd place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 3rd place: $10 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• and a few honorable mentions

For today, I made three cards for your viewing pleasure.  Each one is similar in style all using pattern papers by Tinkering Ink, but to shake things up a bit, I used different stamps, techniques and card sizes.

Just For You

Supplies:

• Holiday Gift Tags
• Stunning Snowflakes
• VersaMark Ink
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Felt Snowflakes
• Antique Fasteners
• Button, String, Heart Punch (EK Success), Ribbon and Sewing Supplies

Season’s Greetings

Supplies:

• Good Cheer Messages
• Holly Flourish
• Pearls
• Poinsettia
• Fall Ink Queue
• Buttons
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen) and edge distresser, Ribbon, Lace Sewing Supplies

Scrap-ling Tree

Supplies:

• Holiday Trees
• Pearls
• Pumpkin Patch Queue
• Jute string, sewing supplies

And finally, I’d like to extend the goodness that Jennifer started a couple weeks back.

Please check out what’s going on over at Cards For Heroes.  This sites mission is “to support our nation’s armed forces by sending greeting cards on which deployed troops can write home, as well as cards full of gratitude sent to injured heroes recovering in hospitals.”  Jennifer started talking to Sandy Allnock, the site’s generous and talented president, and thought that it would be fun to collect the holiday cards for this weeks Hero Arts Blog challenge.

If you would like to participate, you can send your card(s) to the address below.  (The cards can either have a message written in them for a soldier, or the cards can be blank so that the soldiers can write in them and send them home to their families.) We will collect them and send them via Cards For Heroes to soldiers overseas.  (For all of you stampers who aren’t in the USA, you are welcome to still send them in to us or pass them on to a program in your own country.  Jennifer will be collecting a list of contacts for each country, so you can also email  her at jennifer@heroarts.com if you would like that information.)  On September 30th, we will randomly pick three winners from the cards that were sent in and will send the winners a Hero Arts Let It Snow Clear Design stamp set (see image below)!  So, send those cards in.  Here is the address:

Jennifer McGuire
Heroes Card Drive
PO Box 428612
Cincinnati, OH 45242

Thanks for hanging in on the long post. I can’t wait to see your creations as you join the fun with me this week!
Enjoy and create!